new year’s letter 2017

A year ago, it was impossible to know that this letter would be the harbinger of the oncoming storm. But that’s why we do these things — they’re a reset, a way of better understanding where we’ve been and where we’re headed. In 2016 I had to learn about priorities and how to reshuffle things. We lost more brilliant writers, we found more friends who were in real trouble and needed a hand up, not a hand out, and we generally fumbled around in the dark pretty hardcore.

I let this blog stagnate and basically sputter out, which was a massive disservice to all of you. For that I apologize. For the first time in a long time, things were going pretty smoothly for me — then my husband took a job 450 miles away. I went through a lot of different emotions, knowing I’d likely never see my native Ozarks again — not in the same way, anyway. But with this job also comes a new beginning.

Once I finish packing our Ozarks home and we fetch the truck to transport it to our home in Texas, all those little projects I never had the time to work on are going to get attention. The good ones will be picked up, the bad ones will be chucked, my plate will be cleared. The very first of those must be this blog, otherwise why am I here today?

2016 was a difficult year, it was a year that brought with it a lot of disaster and destruction and it’s a year that is still leaving a lot of us with more questions than answers. My advice to that is to keep your questions, but don’t obsess over them. If you don’t like the direction of a thing, then take a stand. Don’t mull over it, just do it. Mulling is for cider.

My life will change in so many ways this coming year, but I hold on to the hope that my new home in The Land of Eternal Summer will bring with it great opportunities I never could have realized here in the Queen City of the Ozarks. Starting over with new doctors is a terrifying prospect, but it’s a necessary evil. It is what it is. It’ll be ok.

Usually I have a lot more to say in these letters, but right now I’m still sort of pondering the future. I have a lot of irons gently smoking in the fire and a LOT of boxes to pack, so I’m going to call it a day and get my client work finished so I can focus on the massive task ahead. My one solid goal is to eliminate noise that doesn’t help me either A) personally or B) professionally.

2017 is a year of new beginnings, I can feel it. But it’s also a year of closing a lot of doors, maybe forever, and it’s a year that’s not going to be gentle. Change is always chaotic, no matter who you are or how you go about it. Change is the beast lurking under the bed, it’s the fucking monster in the closet. The question, then, is how do we juggle change while embracing the future that we’re barreling towards?

I’m not sure, to be honest. I’m not sure how to do that. Right now it’s all one big puzzle for me, so if you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them. 2017 will be different from 2016… that’s pretty much all we can know for sure. The world is about to change dramatically. Journos, stand tall and hold to your ethics, marketers, remember that the truth always sells better than a lie. The rest of you, find the truth in all things and I think we’ll be ok. Everyone, shine a big light on the things that matter, bring them to the front, and we’ll come out of 2017 better than we did from 2016.